Cowie and Fox » lululemon

lululemon – The ‘Pro Reality’ Lesson

Noel Fox — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:34:47 +0000

When lululemon came to us with the need for an ad campaign that was unpredictable and entertaining, that was current and relevant with the times, we ran with it. They said that they weren’t scared to tell the truth and give the Yoga Journal readers a dose of what they needed to hear. In the ad world, we don’t always get the opportunity to reveal our pitch. However, at Cowie and Fox we agree with lululemon in saying that the “Pro Reality” message was a great ad campaign to work on. It sends a message that resonates with something we all need to be attentive to in our daily lives.

The Pitch:

“‘The world is rapidly becoming muddled into a technology driven trance, where we lose touch with our senses, emotions and the true relationships that makes being a human so amazing. Instead we seek fulfillment by watching other people’s lives on television and communicating intimate personal feelings through cold and emotionless machines. Our subtle body language, facial expressions and simple touch have been replaced by abbreviated text message jargon, emoticons and blurted “comments” on a Facebook page. We are overestimating technology and are losing sight of true community, true life, and the truly powerful emotions we feel when simply looking into someone’s eyes.”

The Ads:

I hope you can all take something away from lululemon’s ‘Pro Reality’ message.

I know we did.

Chip’s Not Dead Yet

Noel Fox — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:50:35 +0000

http://www.chipsnotdeadyet.com

Update: lululemon founder Chip Wilson and Cowie and Fox heated up the pavement once again with the fun and engaging Chip’s Not Dead Yet Memorial Mile. The event last weekend showcased C&F’s playful creative amongst numerous superheros, rockstars, scantly clad runners, street performers and a bustling beer garden. Approximately $100,000 was raised for BC Children’s Hospital Foundation and Chip is going to match that. It was a great success and one heck of a party!

Not that there is anything wrong with statues, monuments, buildings or roads that are built to commemorate somebody’s life, but the one unfortunate feature of this kind of commemoration is that they almost always depend on that somebody being dead. It’s nice to be remembered, but certainly nicer while you’re still alive. That’s why Lululemon founder, Chip Wilson, decided to forge his own legacy instead of waiting to die and have someone name a cul-de-sac in his memory.

Chip decided that part of this legacy would be a yearly charity run. Unlike most charity runs, Chip’s run is pretty short, just one mile to be exact. The brevity of the run was specifically set so that anyone could join in. The soul purpose of the event is to get as many people together to do something good, and to have fun while doing it. In order to find a way of capturing and sharing this spirit, Chip enlisted his long time agency, Cowie and Fox, to see what it could do about making this the largest and ‘funnest’ one mile race in the world.

Cowie and Fox started things off by coming up with a simple, yet eloquent brand for race: Chip’s Not Dead Yet Memorial Mile. Not only is the name a humorous acknowledgement of Chip’s love of life, but it is also an effective device for piquing the curiosity of the masses. The success of the brand and project was immediately evident as the race attracted more than 2,500 entrants making it the largest one mile race in the world! This blew the initial goal of 1,000 participants right out of the water. In addition to the great turnout, the charity raised a whopping net-amount of $150,000 that went directly to the BC Children’s Hospital. Undeniably, Chip’s Not Dead is an effective example of how the strength of a brand concept can create unprecedented success.

This year Chip’s Not Dead Memorial Mile is just around the corner, and registrations are tipping it off to be another record breaking event. Everyone’s excited and Chip especially seems pretty stoked with how the brand has worked out:

“I’ve kept coming back to Cowie and Fox over the last 13 years because great creative is hard to find. Their work on the Chip’s Not Dead Yet branding is no exception with everything, including the website being very well received. Thanks for being an integral part of what is going to be the funnest and most successful charity event this city has ever seen!
Chip Wilson :: lululemon and Chip’s Not Dead Yet, Founder

the lululemon bag

david — Wed, 06 May 2009 20:47:40 +0000

First things first, I’m not the kind of guy to brag about my work. I hope not anyway. BUT this is a real phenomenon and I’ve never really spoken publicly about it. By now anyone living in a medium to large city in Canada is familiar with that red, reusable lululemon bag. It is absolutely everywhere. A day does not go by here in Vancouver where I don’t I see at least one (usually more) walk by me on the arm of someone out and about in the city. I attribute this to a few key factors; its slogans are inspiring to the target market, it is associated with a cool, hip brand in that market and, well, it’s a cool design. Design wise I don’t consider it my Magnum Opus, but it is the one thing I’ve done in my career that everyone immediately recognizes.

The thing is it was never actually designed to be what it became. Long before it was on posters, bags, tech tops and water bottles around the world, it was originally created around 2004 as a way to creatively display Chip’s wordy manifesto on the back cover of a printed lululemon magazine we were working on here at Cowie and Fox. (I’ve still got a few copies actually if anyone is interested.)

In the last few months, it has been hard for me to ignore the plethora of, dare I say “knockoffs” of the design. I’ve included one here from a the window of a clothing store in Yaletown I saw the other day. I see it even features some very similar wording to the original one…

-dtm